Well I got a call on Monday from my friend Rick saying he was back from Thanksgiving Vacation up north and he was going to bring the boat over to Flagship Marina in the Housie this week and wanted me to follow him over in my truck and bring him back. Well he called me up last night and asked if I wanted to do it today and I said sure, but said to him lets wait and see what the wind is going to do. Called me this morning and we decided to go for it! Got out of the ice blocked harbor around 10:30 and headed towards the river, decided to bring a rod just in case we wanted to have one more shot at some fish, on the way over we decided to make a run out to Middle Ground and try for some blackfish. Got out there and anchored up, water was tolerable and he has an enclosure so we fished for about 1.5 hrs. and got nothing. We pulled the hook and rode around a bit trying to mark some fish then decided to go over to the South Rip and lo and behold the birds were working hard all along the rip. Could see fish breaking occassionally and started making drifts across the rip. Hooked up first drift 25" or so schoolie on a Wild Eye, big and fat! We did this for the rest of the day until it started getting dark. I lost count how many fish we caught but suffice it to say we hammered them good! Probably got somewhere in the neighborhood of 50-60 fish between the 2 of us. Biggest going to Ricky @ 33" 12lbs. or so. We both kept one fish each. This was the first fish I have kept all year and it was a fat 25" fish that had 2 whole Butterfish in his belly when cleaned tonight. Iwill tell you all I don't like bass that much but I wanted to eat one for dinner and this fish was outstanding, I broiled it with butter, S&P, paprika, and some parsley flakes both sides. Really a great dinner and the wife loved it and the fact that I cooked dinner Great day even if it was only in the 20's and windy, and a great last trip out on the water for 2002!! What a surprise to see all of those birds and fish at this time of the year out in the middle of the sound, and there was alot of those butterfish on the surface fleeing for their lives, I thought they were peanut bunker until I cleaned that fish, can't get any fresher than this one it was still moving when I cleaned him on the kitchen counter (wife didn't like that too much and neither did I for that matter) but it tasted so good!!!
Tightlines,
Mike M.

Mike,
Hardcore is a perfect description. You've had a great season from the reports down there! Plenty to make the White Winter fly by. Thanks for making my mind wander from work once again...as well as my taste buds!

Never underestimate the winter fishery! Pleanty of fish hang out all year. May be heading down to Island Beach NJ this weekend for some PIGS. My buddy down there called and said there is pleanty of action down there. I will be keeping an eye on the weather to see just how bad this storm stirs things up.

Thanks everyone, it was one of those last minute deals and I decided after my buddy Rick kept one bass that I had not eaten one in about 5-6 years so I said to him if I get one more fish in the slot I am going to bring it home for dinner tonight. Well next drift and boom 25" fish in the boat. I hate to kill anything but when you have to eat, you get the picture. First bass I have killed and kept for a long time. The limit in CT. is ! Fish 24-32" and 1 Fish @ 40"+ per day per man. Pretty cold day but I enjoyed myself completely and had a great time and I even stayed warm most of the day. Looking outside right now with the snow just falling by the 1/2 ft. an hour it was a good thing I got out yesterday.

Great report Mike! Wow, the striper regs in CT are even more bizarre than I thought. I knew about the slot limit, but had no idea that the party/charter boat limit is entirely different. Makes no sense whatsoever!

Nothing wrong with eating fresh fish from the saltwater at all. I'm used to the size limits being at least 28 inches, that's all. I kept one fish for my self and gave one to a friend the next day a couple of weeks ago.